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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26773288">Questions</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTimelessChild0/pseuds/Fedora%20Of%20Adorableness'>Fedora Of Adorableness (TheTimelessChild0)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>White Collar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Episode: s03e16 Judgment Day, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Introspection, Meaningful conversations, Proverbs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:08:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,367</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26773288</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTimelessChild0/pseuds/Fedora%20Of%20Adorableness</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hughes gets the chance to ask Neal some questions. Though they are not ones he expects.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Questions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Neal leaned on the wall with a sigh. Despite all the times he’d been truthful to Peter, </span>
  <em>
    <span>well, </span>
  </em>
  <span>mostly truthful, this was a time when he felt he could not trust what he heard; nor what he thought or hoped he heard. He did not know </span>
  <em>
    <span>what</span>
  </em>
  <span> to think. If Peter lied to Kramer, it was because the senior agent was so dead set on locking Neal up, his handler stepped in to save him with a false promise. A compromise. Whether it would end up a reality remained to be seen, but he resolved to stay optimistic. He tried to focus on the tone instead. Which part of his speech had the most emotion. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was what gave you away when lying. And Kramer didn’t seem to express any towards any of his coworkers, Peter included. There was quite a bit of emotion laced in the words ‘He has earned the right to decide his own life’. It was clear, his friend wasn’t referring to two years in the future. He was talking about today.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Checking for mice in the concrete, Caffrey?” a grumbly, but kind voice inquired. Neal turned around and saw Reese. He looked more curious than suspicious. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s get back to the office,” he suggested, patiently. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He wasn’t in trouble? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Apparently, the ASAC sympathised with his anxiety. He followed obediently.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry so much about Kramer. His word ain’t gospel and won’t be treated as such, certainly not by the board,” Hughes assured him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s just a bit unnerving, after all of this, after I got my coworkers back as friends despite what I </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span>, that the one guy that hates me comes back to sow dissent,” Neal complained. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He took your romantic side away too, I see,” Reese smirked, bemused. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They approached one of the several </span>
  <em>
    <span>other</span>
  </em>
  <span> restrooms on the floor, besides the one he normally used.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ooh, excuse me, I just gotta...” he pointed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hughes nodded and waved. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Be right out,”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he emptied his bladder, it felt as if a weight was being lifted. Then, the door opened. He looked to the side, saw it was Hughes and kept going, utterly unflappable in the circumstance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘That’s better,’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>Neal sighed, satisfied, as he finished. Then he noticed Hughes staring at him. He tugged his belt up with his pinky fingers, heading to the sink.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” he deadpanned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You didn’t freeze up,” Hughes stated. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Jones told you about that, did he?” Neal remarked, amused, combing through his hair with his fingers. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Peter. You </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> he looks out for you. Can’t do that by himself,” Reese reminded him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Clearly</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Neal remarked awkwardly, pulling up his trousers properly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What were we talking about again?” he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Something about Kramer ruining your life,” the senior agent stated. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, technically he’s just </span>
  <em>
    <span>sabotaging</span>
  </em>
  <span> my commutation hearing,” Caffrey acknowledged.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That alone makes him undeserving of his gun and badge. Sure, he doesn’t want you behind bars...</span>
  <em>
    <span>yet. </span>
  </em>
  <span>You’re still useful to him. It won’t be his first attempt at setting you up to fail,” Hughes complained. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Neal couldn’t help but snicker.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Something tickling you?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It just sounds fairly comical coming from you,” he noted, raising an eyebrow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His boss continued looking confused. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh come on, seriously? You’re gonna take the high ground? Don’t pretend that wasn’t you when I first started working here,” Neal pointed out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hughes looked...stunned. Surprised. A tad saddened.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I never hoped you’d screw up. If you did, how would </span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> look? I was just hoping you wouldn’t run off again,” Reese stated plainly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Neal stopped, befuddled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why? Why would that matter to you? I’d just get caught again, put behind bars,” he pointed out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because I’ve seen how well you work. And looking at your past crimes, I’m not surprised. You put your mind to it, you can accomplish great things. You have a brilliant mind and a good heart. You didn’t start the life you lived before out of </span>
  <em>
    <span>spite</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It was because the system failed your family,” Hughes said, knowingly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Neal swallowed, old wounds opening up again. He was beyond gobsmacked. Positively stunned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How did you know?” he asked quietly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You think I take a deal like yours without looking into you? You got caught twice over a girl. A man as smart as you? I knew there was more to the story. You don’t get to be ASAC without having friends in high places,” the elder explained. “I’m sorry,”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay, I’ve gotten through it,” Neal claimed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hughes got closer, nudging the con man with his shoulder. It was a gesture of comfort.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever you say,” the agent murmured.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know, you’re more of an open book than you realise. I look into those eyes, I see pain, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>love</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Fear and bravery. Worry about the future, and ambition to find a way out, whatever happens. It’s what drives you. All your emotions, your opinions...your memories,”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s better to make a million mistakes, than do just </span>
  <em>
    <span>one</span>
  </em>
  <span> thing right,” Neal noted. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Interesting perspective. But you still haven’t answered my original question,” Hughes reminded him.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Which was?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why didn’t you freeze up in the bathroom with me standing right behind you?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Caffrey chuckled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, it’s like I said. It’s just around Jones. And yes, you’re my boss. But that didn’t really matter. With all due respect, sir, you’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> that intimidating. I barely notice you’re there,” Neal explained. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just one last question; if you resent what your father did so much; why did you want to work for the FBI so badly?” Hughes questioned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not the same thing. I didn’t stop believing in the system, or appreciating it. I just stopped trusting it blindly, like most people do. My dad was a cop. Not an FBI agent. Your rap sheet was clean when I first met Peter. And he made a pretty good sales pitch,” Caffrey commented.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He was firm, but polite. Straightforward, but kind. He took the time to talk to me when I was just an excitable </span>
  <em>
    <span>20-year-old</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Neal stated.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He stopped. “When I describe myself as having turned myself in, that’s because </span>
  <em>
    <span>that’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> how I see it,” he clarified. “Sure, it wasn’t in the traditional sense; it wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>planned</span>
  </em>
  <span>. But I could’ve run. I didn’t. Not because I knew I’d get caught right away. Because I knew I wouldn’t. Which meant the chances of Peter being there when it happened, would decrease exponentially, with new teams being pulled into the hunt. Being arrested was the best-case scenario. I didn’t just get caught. I surrendered,” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s why you stayed in the apartment. So Peter could catch up with you,” Reese understood. Neal shrugged. “The Marshals scare me. Peter never did,” he breathed heavily, fighting tears.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now I <em>really</em> hope they take Kramer’s word with a pinch of salt. He doesn’t deserve you,” Hughes muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Don’t worry, worst comes to worst, there’s always the Hudson. Did I mention I swim?” Caffrey quipped. He had never seen the man next to him smile quite so widely.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know, I sometimes wonder if it was a mistake, arresting you the first time. Whether there might have been a better idea back then,” Hughes mentioned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, there was. Putting me in a more secure prison,” Neal replied instantly. “I was only 23. Those four years were the best thing that ever happened to me. I needed the time to grow up. I took surviving after Adler skedaddled a </span>
  <em>
    <span>bit</span>
  </em>
  <span> far,” he assured him. Reese furrowed his brow, sceptically. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> far,” Caffrey relented.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They turned around to see Peter, returning from his already </span>
  <em>
    <span>compromised,</span>
  </em>
  <span> covert conversation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’s all yours,” Hughes patted Neal on the back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, Reese. Why aren’t you at your desk?” Peter asked, crossing his arms.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, I just went to the bathroom,” he informed his handler. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“With Hughes?” Burke doubted the statement.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told you, it’s just Jones! Next time you wanna tell on me, at least bother to get your facts straight,” Neal scoffed, going back to his desk.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peter stared at his boss. “Don’t look at me, I never said he <em>had</em> to work mortgage fraud,” he replied casually, shuffling away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Burke scratched his head, wondering what the hell happened in that bathroom...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The End.</span>
</p>
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